Hopes And Fears - Keane > Reviews > Full of hopes, no fears at all

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Groundbreaking
Lyrics	Sublime
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Not applicable
Value for Money

Advantages:	SUPERB vocals and piano
Disadvantages:	Couple of weak songs

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

You know when you buy an album, you tend to maybe like around half of the songs a lot of the time, the others you do not listen to. If you liked their singles like "Somewhere Only We Know" and "Everybody's Changing" then you will love at least 8 of the 12, it's almost law.

There are 12 songs on the album, which I will briefly describe:

1. Somewhere Only We Know: This is a piano BASHING song! Very rhythmic in style, and has a pretty upbeat melody. This is one of those songs you want to sing very loud! The piano is very much keeping the beat in this song and is a great debut song. (8/10)

2. Bend and Break: Why this has not been released yet is BEYOND me; it is more upbeat to song 1 - the piano is very very good, and the song is very much one of those that builds to the chorus where Tom slams the the voice and Tim bashes those chords out. (9/10)

3. We Might as Well Be Strangers: This is such a contrast to the other two. It is a very slow, downbeat song which is very beautiful. Uses tremolo beats which confuse you at first! Again the piano provides the mood of the song. It is very short (3:12) but is so beautiful and in the final chorus he BELTS out the vocals which make it a very nice climax to a wonderful song. (9/10)

4. Everybody's Changing: Everyone must have heard of this song - perhaps the most well known. This now is a more upbeat song to get over the climax of the previous. Keane experiment a fair bit with the sound effects here, some sort of electronic waa-waahing :P The drums come more into play with this song - where the piano know is more accompliment rather than leading the mood. (8/10)

5. Your Eyes Open: "Was that a bird I heard or am I going crazy?" No you are not going crazy it is a bird. Why are there bird effects in the song? Beats me but works suprisingly well! A fairly slow start to the song, building up to the chorus for a big beltout which adds to the quality. The piano is an accompliment - but there is some stringed instrument adding fill to the song, another superb song (9/10)

6. She Has No Time: Incredibly long (5:45) and slow, solemn song. It unfortunately is the first one so far that I am not too fond of. It feels like it is struggling to get to the chorus it is that slow. It is a pretty nice song but too depressing following the previous few. (6/10)

7. Can't Stop Now: This is one that took me a LONG time to begin to like. It much louder and crowded than the previous, some fairly odd chords here which makes the song skew slightly, but the piano accompliment is reminiscent to Everybody's Changing - Tim now adding more authority in the song. It is fairly upbeat but it is very odd (7/10)

8. Sunshine: No, don't like this song. It's pretty slow again - I think Keane didn't put much effort into this song. The chorus is similar mood to the verse, not much differentiation in the tune or melody. (4/10)

9. This is the Last Time: MUCH MUCH MUCH BETTER!!! This is my favourite song. Structured beautifullly, Tom belts out the vocals here showing how good he is at range and pitch - this song wouldn't be so good without the piano - Tim does a great job accompanying and flowing the song through. Absolutely top notch and very very enjoyable - Nice and upbeat. (10/10)

10. On A Day Like Today: Oh dear, slipped down again. But not too much. The start is very odd again. Strange "Bedshaped" like mood and effects - a bit like a haunted game or something. But gradually as the song progresses and the instruments become more involved, this song turns from a very odd song to a pretty damn decent song actually! (6/10)

11. Untitled I: Why have they decided to call a song "Untitled"? Answer: Because there is no effort in the song. Lyrics are undistinct due to maltimed echoes, barely any piano at all. POOR. (1/10)

12. Bedshaped: This is quite a spooky song, although the vocals are heartfelt, and it is a fairly slow, yet smooth and powerful song. A really nice song to end the brilliant album, and then its not hard to go back to the first song which is just as good! (8/10)

Best song: THIS IS THE LAST TIME
Worst song: UNTITLED I

OVERALL: 9/10 for album

If you enjoy piano, like playing piano songs, or listening to them, this is the album for you. The piano plays a major part in most of the songs and adds the edge to them. If you just liked the previous ones they have released and wondered what the rest are like - I will tell you now, they are pretty darn good!